


The Future Can Wait a Little Longer

by Aki (Akiko_Natsuko)



Series: 365 Days of Fandom [6]
Category: Free!
Genre: Comfort, Doubt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Future, Gen, M/M, Plans For The Future, Worry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-06
Updated: 2019-01-06
Packaged: 2019-10-05 12:56:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17325404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akiko_Natsuko/pseuds/Aki
Summary: Makoto would be lying if he said that he wasn’t scared about their looming 'futures'. The difference between him and Haru though was that he wasn’t fighting it, or rather he wasn’t ignoring it in the hopes that it would just disappear.However, sometimes the future just needs to wait for both of them.





	The Future Can Wait a Little Longer

     Makoto found himself hesitating outside Haru’s backdoor, for the first time in years feeling entirely out of his depth with his best friend. He knew that the others would laugh at him if he admitted that, still convinced that he could read the other boy’s mind with how well he could understand the words that Haru could never say. However, that seemed to be another thing that was changing now, although maybe it was just because for once they were on two different pages, neither of which was an encouraging thought, and his shoulders slumped. He had promised Rin, and to a certain extent the others that he would talk to Haru about his plans for the future – or rather his lack of them, but right now, he wasn’t sure that he could.

Or that he should.

      It wasn’t that he thought that Haru could stick his head in the sand forever, or that he wasn’t aware that he needed to be the one to decide what he wanted to do. He wasn’t blind to the offers that his best friend had received, or the fact that some of them were time-sensitive, and that Haru could be letting opportunities slip through his fingers with each day that he hid away from what was going on. No, what was making him hesitate was that he knew that Haru was already teetering on a precipice, and he didn’t want to be the one to finally push him over the edge. Plus, while Haru hadn’t said as much, he knew that the other boy felt as though he was being pulled and pushed from all directions, which wasn’t helping the situation, and Makoto had always been his rock. If that changed, he wasn’t sure what the other teen would do. _But something has to change._

    Sighing he opened the door, Haru once again having forgotten to lock it, but that felt like a minor complaint in the scheme of things and he slipped inside, quietly closing it behind him. There was no smell of mackerel cooking, so it seemed like Haru had taken advantage of not having school to spend extra time in the bath, and as he toed off his shoes, Makoto prayed that would have put him in a somewhat better frame of mind. It didn’t stop him from dragging his feet as he followed the familiar path through to the bathroom, still warring over whether to broach the subject of ‘the future’ or not. After all, it was normal for him to be here at the weekend, so he could just pretend that he was sticking to their routine, but as soon as he thought that, Rin’s voice rang in his mind and he sighed. If he didn’t say something, then the redhead would, and he was unlikely to be as…delicate in his approach as Makoto would be.

    Something that would go down about as well as the pool being shut for cleaning and Makoto knew that he was going to have to do it if only to avoid another clash between the pair. It still shook him to think about their last argument, unable to remember Haru showing so much emotion before, the raw anger…and despair in his voice, a clear indicator that it had just burst out of him. _I can’t let that happen again._ Not that he was sure that he was going to get a different response, but he could hope, and squaring his shoulders and adopting what he knew Nagisa jokingly referred to as his ‘mum expression’ he took the last few steps to the bathroom door and knocked before he could lose his courage again.

“Haru?” There was no reply, but that didn’t necessarily mean anything, as more often than not Haru would ignore him in the hopes of being left to bathe in peace. Not that it ever worked, and not that it ever stopped him from trying. _We’re both creatures of habit,_ he thought with a pang, resolutely ignoring the small voice in the back of his head that reared up, pointing out that was all going to disappear soon. Lost before the influx of ‘the future’ and he frowned, before knocking again. “Haru? It’s me.”

    There was still no reply and wondering if Haru had fallen asleep or something he tried the door, relieved when it open, but stunned to find that the room beyond was empty. Not only empty but unused, the floor and tub completely dry.  “HARU?!” He called louder this time, straining to hear a response but the entire house was quiet, and concern blossomed as he retreated from the bathroom and headed for the stairs. Haru never ignored him, and he hadn’t mentioned anything about having plans this weekend, which in Haru speak meant that it was just their usual plans for the weekend, and Makoto sped up, long legs eating up the stairs when he reached them.

“Haru?!” He called again as he reached the door, startled to find it closed as Haru rarely bothered with no one else in the house, hesitating outside his best friend's room in a way that he wouldn’t have done until the last few weeks.

_So much is changing._

It was a sobering realisation, because for all that he kept telling Haru that the coming changes were inevitable and that they were a good thing. He would be lying if he said that he wasn’t scared about all the looming changes, or the ones that had already slipped through. The difference between them was that he wasn’t fighting it, or rather he wasn’t ignoring it in the hopes that it would just disappear like Haru was, but he couldn’t understand on some level why the other teen was fighting the current for once. He just knew that he couldn’t keep fighting, not without eventually burning out anyway, and Makoto would do anything to stop that from happening. “Haru, I’m coming in!” There hadn’t been a reply, but he had to make sure, and it wasn’t as though it would be out of character for Haru to stay quiet even if he was here.

   Shaking his head, a spark of fondness breaking through the worry and doubts for a minute at his best friend’s quirks, he pushed the door open. However, he hadn’t been prepared for the sight that met him, and he felt his mouth dropping open even as his throat went dry.

_Haru…_

    The other teen was sat in the middle of his bed, huddled in on himself, with his head buried against his knees as he rocked slightly back and forth, seemingly oblivious to Makoto’s arrival. Around him, scattered across the bed and floor were what appeared to be college prospectuses and what looked like more scouting letters, all of them torn into tiny pieces and looking as though they had been flung away with as much force as possible. Makoto opened his mouth and then closed it, realising that he didn’t have the words. He had found his path. He might have doubts, he might wish deep inside that they could remain as they were, even just for a little longer, but he knew where he was going. Haru didn’t have that.

     Taking a deep breath, he stepped into the room, deliberately making noise as he moved, giving Haru a chance to tell him to go away or at least acknowledge his presence, but there was nothing. As he passed, he glanced at the torn papers, noting names and wondering how many of them had been read before they were destroyed. Rin would be furious if he could see this, and Makoto was glad that he was the one who had walked in on this. Because while he could understand the redhead’s point of view, he could also see Haru’s, and while he knew that he couldn’t keep the future at bay forever, he could shield Haru for a little while longer.

     Quietly he settled on the edge of the bed, just as he had so many times before over the years, although more often than not he had been the one needing comfort. _Changes._ He grimaced, before trying for a weaker version of his usual smile as he reached out and grasped Haru’s shoulder, squeezing lightly, just as he always had to warn Haru when he came up behind him, and it finally got him a reaction.

“M-Makoto?” If the shaky voice, little more than a whisper hadn’t told him that something was wrong, then the red-rimmed eyes that appeared a moment later as Haru lifted his head to peer at him certainly did. Makoto had always been the touchy-feely one of the pair, Haru tolerating it in a way that he wouldn’t for anyone else, but there was something in the wild blue now looking at him for answers that told him it wouldn’t be tolerated, but welcomed today. His expression softened, his smile a little stronger as he shuffled closer and wrapped his arms around Haru, and there was a split second where the other teen tensed, but then he was moving, melting into the embrace with a sigh that sounded a little too much like a sob for Makoto’s liking.

“It’s okay Haru,” he murmured, moving them into a more comfortable position, shushing the other teen when he protested, thinking that he was being pushed away. “It’s going to be okay,” he repeated, rubbing soothing circle’s on Haru’s back, lifting his head to look at the mess around them and wishing that he could believe his own words. He honestly had no idea what they were going to do, this wasn’t something he could make easier by translating what was in Haru’s mind, because Haru didn’t have the answers, not yet… and maybe, not ever, Makoto admitted for the first time as he slowly tore his gaze away from the papers to look at the dark head nestled against his chest.

    He knew that Haru wouldn’t admit that. That he was going to keep doing this, keeping it to himself until the pressure became too much and bubbled out. It was what had happened with Rin in the locker room, and himself when he had finally told Haru his plans for the future…and it was what had happened today. _What if I hadn’t come around? What if I had let Rin come instead?_ He didn’t want to think about that, just as he didn’t want to think about what was going to happen to Haru if…when they ended up in different places when he couldn’t just walk to his house and drag him out of the bath to make sure he got to class on time. When he wasn’t going to be there to translate for the words that wouldn’t come…

     There was a lump in his throat now, and he let his head fall, coming to rest against Haru’s as suddenly it felt like the future was opening up like a hungry maw beneath his feet. He could feel his doubts, the ones he had been holding at bay for weeks surging to the front, and this time it was a struggle to push them back. _Haru, I’m just as scared of the future as you are,_ he thought but didn’t say, refusing to put that on Haru, and knowing that if he said it aloud then the doubts would become louder, and more real.

“Makoto…?” He startled a little at the quiet voice, a startled smile replacing the one that had slipped off his face and he felt Haru moving, pulling away just enough to peer up at him. To anyone else, it would have seemed like an empty, almost emotionless stare, but Makoto wasn’t just anyone, and he could see the worry hidden in the gaze. The silent question and he sighed, pulling Haru close again and ducking his head to press his lips to dark hair.

“I’m okay, Haru,” he whispered, before taking a deep breath.  “I just want to stay like this, just a little while longer.” He knew that Haru would catch the hidden meaning, the words he wasn’t saying this time, because the understanding that so many people saw as mindreading went both ways, and as Haru’s arms crept around him, holding him tight, he knew that he understood.

_We both want the future to wait, just for a little longer…_

 


End file.
